This invention relates to compositions and methods for chemically removing paint and varnish from wood, metal, glass, fiberglass and many plastics surfaces. Prior to the realization of the various health hazards caused by halogenated hydrocarbon chemicals, the cornerstone of the paint stripping industry was methylene chloride. With the discovery of the hazards connected with the use of such materials, many proposals have been made for paint and varnish stripping compositions that do not include halogenated hydrocarbons. Hitherto, the most successful of these developments required the use of acids, thereby creating the problems of neutralization and/or harming the surface to be stripped. A recent patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,010 to Ralph R. Swett, proposes to solve the problem by employing approximately equal parts of methyl ethyl ketone, methyl alcohol, toluene and acetone. The volatile nature of such compositions can create severe ventilation problems when working in confined spaces and further requires the use of large amounts of thickeners to assist in keeping the stripping compositions in place long enough to do a thorough stripping job.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,164 describes and claims multi-purpose paint and varnish strippers comprising N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, toluene, lower aliphatic alcohols and ketones, propylene glycol, mineral spirits, surfactants and thickeners. While such compositions are very effective paint and varnish strippers, it has been found that they are not environmentally acceptable due to the suspected carcinogenic activity of toluene.